


These past twenty five years

by robin_orpheus



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Asexual Julie Molina, Autistic Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Bisexual Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Eventual Pride Parade, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gay Alex Mercer (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina Loves The Phantoms, Lesbian Flynn (Julie and The Phantoms), M/M, Nonbinary Carrie Wilson, Nonbinary Character, Pansexual Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Reggie Peters Has ADHD (Julie and The Phantoms), Reggie being adorable, Some star wars/mandalorian stuff because obviously, Somewhat serious/mostly fun, The boys explore the 21st century, Trans Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), juke IF you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:27:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28985586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robin_orpheus/pseuds/robin_orpheus
Summary: Reggie, Alex and Luke (with the help of Julie) discover the remarkable developments of the 21th century and how different it is from the 90’s.
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters, Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 34
Kudos: 145





	1. What's up with the bird?

**Author's Note:**

> English isn’t my native language (yet I continue to be compelled to write in it. Whenever I try to write in swedish which is my first language, I literally suck at it. English comes more naturally for whatever reason). Sorry for any mistakes :) I’m constantly trying to improve. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy these semi-short scenarios with an overarching storyline about the boys discovering everything they’ve missed! I find this concept interesting because I love reading or watching characters discover things that are brand-new, like a time-travelling character from the past learning about the future like a fish fresh out of water. 
> 
> No promises that I’ll write all 5 planned chapters, I’ve currently got two more ideas that I want them to learn about but other than that idk yet. We’ll see what comes!
> 
> Updates probably every few days or so or once a week (aiming for Mondays)

“What is Twitter?” Alex asked, reading the app Julie had opened up articulating exactly like an old grandparent reading on their phone and squinting, he was looking over Julie’s shoulder as she scrolled through whatever “Twitter” was. She was laying down on her bed wearing a comfy, oversized and purple hoodie with the hood pulled over. 

The guys had just popped in - again, without knocking - a couple of minutes after she’d got back from a long and tiring day of school and then a subsequent hour of hanging out with Flynn listening to some new artists, they’d been trying to branch out to some new genres and specifically different fusion-genres. 

Julie thought it was an understatement to say that she was tired. She was beyond _exhausted._

And she had looked forward to at least five minutes of alone time. Five minutes to relax, was that too much to ask for?

Julie groaned and rolled over. Couldn’t her boys leave her alone for just a second? They were like adorable but irritating puppies, constantly flocking around her desperate for attention. 

Julie yawned and buried her head deep in the softness of her pillow.

“Is she dead?” Luke slapped Reggie’s shoulder. “Owie! I was just asking.”

“She’s not dead, we’re dead, she’s tired. We should let her sleep.” Luke remarked.

“Wow, no way, we’re ghosts? That is such surprising news.” Alex said while his voice dropped with sarcasm. And then he repeated his question. He was dying - well, not literally, he was already dead - to know. 

“Julie, we’ll let you sleep soon. I just really have to know, what’s Twitter? Like, who are all those people? Do you know all of them? _Are they strangers?”_ Alex asked in a normal tone, but as his question progressed his voice rose with anxiety and came out as a whisper at the end. He looked slightly terrified. 

“If you have to know. It's called social media. I don’t know all of them in real life and some of them are strangers. But I’m like 90% sure they’re not murderers or creepy stalkers..” Julie answered.

“Social media?” The boys asked simultaneously, visibly confused. What the hell was social media? Was a thought that ran through each of their heads.

“It’s a place where you can connect to people across the world on the internet.” 

Reggie, Alex and Luke sat down on Julie’s bed, she sat up halfway and leaned against her pillow. She angled her phone so that the other three could see her screen better. “Technology has really come far, huh?” Alex said.

“Oh yeah, you’ve guys missed out on a lot. There’s so much. Almost too much.” Julie nodded.

“So anyone on this thing can write and post anything they want? Like, _anything at all?”_ Luke asked.

“Yup. Well.. Some things can get you reported, so you can’t really say anything, but as long as it’s not discriminatory or harmful it’s usually okay.” Julie said.

“What do you post?” Luke asked, he raised an eyebrow. _“Anything about me?”_ His voice got a slightly higher pitch as he asked the question.

Julie flushed and smiled. “No, mostly just covers and obviously I share all of our performances and all that. But I don’t manage our band account which is separate from my private account. Flynn does all that technical and stuff considering she’s our Manager and much better at it than me. And aside from music, just my general thoughts on stuff. Or random shower thoughts. Can never go wrong with shower thoughts.”

Reggie nodded, “Wise words, Molina, wise words indeed.”

“But what the hell is up with the bird? Like, why a bird?” Luke asked, he’d been wondering about the app icon. 

Why had the creators of the weird app gone with a bird? There had to be some kind of meaning behind it, right? People hadn’t stopped creating art that had meaning behind it, or had they? Luke frowned.

Luke had always been one for creating with a reason, whether it was to spill out his thoughts about an argument with his mom or something else that was bothering him. He’d never understood why people made mindless art. Some songs he’d heard in the new age he found himself were awful. Actually terrible. But then again, bad art existed back in the 90’s too. While technology sure changes a lot, some things never do. In Luke’s opinion, art was supposed to be about passion, not about making cash.

“It’s called Twitter because the icon is a bird...” The realization dawned on Luke as he muttered the words.

“Tweet tweet. Like a bird.” said Reggie.

“Yeah.” 

“And the post button is a feather?” Alex asked which Julie nodded to.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait wait-” Reggie looked like he’d just made the world’s most genius discovery. He was a genius! A discovery no one had literally EVER thought of before in the entire history of humanity.

“The home icon, it’s a birdhouse! EVERYTHING makes so much more sense. Wow, I’m really smart!” He chuckled and grinned that goofy smile. 

Luke looked like he wanted to hit his head against a brick wall. He almost, _almost_ did. Meanwhile Alex appeared deeply concerned about Reggie. All while Reggie looked prouder of himself than ever. _I’m a genius,_ Reggie thought.

Oh, her boys. Her dumb, loveable boys. Even though they could be a pain in the ass at times when they wouldn’t leave her alone or knock on the door, she truly felt a great deal of love for them. So much that it ached her heart. They were her family (aside from her actual family.) 

Despite how much they’d missed out on, she was happy to be the guiding light of everything new in the 21st century for them. Technology, social media, tv series and movies and not to forget music. There was an entire unexplored world out there ready for them to scavenge through.

A knock at the door. “Mija, dinner’s ready.” Ray said from the other side of the door.

“Coming.” Julie grumbled.

“Everything alright? I heard you talking, you ok?” asked the concerned parent.

“Yup.” Julie popped the p. “Just talking to the guys on, uhh, facetime? _Do people use facetime anymore?”_ she replied and whispered the last part to herself.

“Tell them hi from me!” Ray asked excitedly.

“My dad says hi.” Julie smiled at the guys.

“Hi, Mr Molina!” Reggie waved at the door like an energetic child. He appeared to be the only one enthused about the prospect of getting a hello from Julie’s dad. Alex and Luke just looked at each other, then at the door and they both said hi.

“They say hi back! And uh, I’m coming soon! Just gotta say bye.”

Ray’s footsteps descended down the stairs. Julie turned once again to look at the boys she loved so much. “Tell you what, I’m going to show you guys the wonders of the modern world.”

“Where do we start?” Luke asked.

“You guys like Star Wars, right?”

“Is this about Jar Jar…?” Luke asked, sounding scared and hesitant.

“Okay, while the prequels may be “bad”, as a kid I loved them. But I very much doubt that _you_ will enjoy them.” Julie pointed at Luke as he narrowed his eyes. “And I will not comment on the sequels… That’s for another day. A day in the far distant future. No. This is special. I swear. This is very special. We’re going to watch a Star Wars live-action tv show.” Julie grinned. 

“A Star Wars tv show? Is it good?” Alex asked and looked confused.

“Awesome!” Reggie almost yelled.

“Well, it can’t be that bad? Can it?” said Luke and smiled, trying to sound as optimistic as possible. Anything for Jules.


	2. Look, it's baby Yoda!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys watch the Mandalorian for the first time with Julie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SPOILERS! Major The Mandalorian season 2 finale spoilers!!!! and like general spoilers for the entire show, don’t read this chapter if you haven’t watched the show and go watch it now (stan Pedro Pascal for clear skin).
> 
> This chapter is slightly heftier than the last
> 
> I felt too lazy to rewrite a lot and make it better, but I still hope it's ok enough. Hopefully there aren't any grammatical errors but this time I wrote most of this on my phone and usually more errors happen that way for me
> 
> ily drink some water

The three dead teenagers and the only living one were gathered in the Molina household's homely living room. While the guys were unaware of what to expect, Julie was on the brink of bursting with excitement. 

_Another day of binge-watching tv shows,_ she thought lazily. How many had she watched so far? A dozen? More? She had a problem. An actual problem. It could almost be classified as an addiction.

Her dad was sometimes on her (out of concern) for "consuming too much tv", but nah. That wasn't a thing. Her tv-watching habits were the healthiest. For sure.

Julie had brought a bowl of salted and buttered popcorn. She took one and popped it in her mouth. Mmm. It was just the right amount of salty and crunchy. And unfortunately remembered the fact that none of the boys had the ability to eat as ghosts. Even though Julie could now physically touch them, they still couldn't consume normal food. It was a real shame. 

Julie mouthed sorry to the boys who looked a little down. Especially Reggie who looked with an intense, gloomy longing at the popcorn. 

Julie took Reggie's hands in her own and tried to comfort him. "You know what, I don't need popcorn," Julie shrugged and pushed the large bowl aside.

Luke immediately shook his head. "Jules, we don't mind, really." 

Julie smiled at him and still felt a pang of guilt in the bottom of her stomach.

The house was quiet. Like it usually was when she was home alone, even with the guys around who could cause a ruckus. On days like these she'd invited Flynn over. 

Not today. Today was all about Alex, Reggie and Luke. 

Ray was out shopping at the supermarket. Carlos was at a friend’s house. And Tia, well, you never knew. She popped out of nowhere whenever she felt like it, kind of like the guys, but never told you where she was (most likely at home or at work). 

Already the television was turned on, displaying one of the Cartoon Network shows Carlos was fond of. 

Whenever Julie had tried flipping through the channels (those few times she wasn’t streaming something), she’d never found any good animated shows that were enjoyable. As if all the good stuff had stopped airing. Perhaps she was just a little biased.

Nevertheless, she was shaking with joy at introducing them to what had come to be one of her favorite shows of all time. Bless Pedro Pascal.

"Wait… are you telling me you can stream anything without having to rent it?" Luke asked, shocked. He stared at the HD television screen in awe. In his head, all he could think about was how much better the tv quality was. A huge drastic change from what he had been used to back in 1995.

"Look! They have The Lion King," Alex stated with excitement.

"Man, I love that movie!" Reggie eagerly said.

"Yeah, I mean there are more streaming services out there. Like Netflix and HBO. They've put out more non-Disney stuff that is worth checking out. Feel free to use my dad's accounts on any of those whenever you like on my laptop. Just ask for permission first, capisce?"

"Yes, Ma'am," they all said at once.

Julie giggled, turned on her phone and started streaming the first episode of The Mandalorian. 

__________________________________________________

"Honestly, good so far," Luke breathed a sigh of relief. The quality was near to the original trilogy, even though the original movies were masterpieces.

Everyone was enjoying the first episode. The atmosphere was very Star Wars-esque with obvious western and samurai-movie influences. 

"Will we ever see his face?" Luke asked. They were about twenty minutes in.

"That'd ruin the mystery!" Reggie protested.

Julie giggled. "You just wait."

"What does that mean?" Luke asked impatiently.

"Patience, young Padawan." And Luke quietened down.

__________________________________________________

"Look, it's baby Yoda!" Reggie said as his leg bounced. "Aww, he's so cute," commented Alex. The small child was now on screen. "Adorable," Luke said with a soft smile tracing his lips.

"They did the E.T thing!" Luke said suddenly. He was one massive fan of E.T and had rewatched it endlessly growing up.

The Mandalorian and the child were touching fingertips, very much like the well-known extraterrestrial. 

__________________________________________________

“I _hate jawas,_ ” Luke muttered.

“Aw, come on, they’re kinda _cute?_ ” Alex tried to persuade.

Luke glared at his bandmate. No more jawas were mentioned throughout the rest of the night.

__________________________________________________

“I wonder what they want with baby Yoda, like are they experimenting on him? Are they going to kill them?” Alex was watching the screen, wishing he could quell the worry building up in his chest with popcorn. Too bad ghosts couldn’t eat.

Julie munched on some popcorn, the saltiness drying up her saliva. “Well,” Julie paused and thought for a long, long while. “I think they’re going to use his blood to, uh, create clones and like a way overpowered Sith lord or something in the future? But I’m sure he’s going to be ok, Alex.”

Alex relaxed and leaned on Julie’s shoulder and continued watching in silence. Reggie who was sitting on his right leaned his head on Alex’s shoulder. They all fell onto an irritated Luke like a bunch of domino bricks. Everyone laughed but Luke. But after a while he gave in and joined in.

__________________________________________________

Julie giggled. “Flynn’s got a real big crush on her," he nodded towards the character currently on screen, Cara Dune. 

“Can’t blame her," Reggie said in awe. 

Luke had the same impressed expression of someone with a newfound crush (Julie felt a touch of jealousy, but just shrugged it off). Alex looked entirely uninterested. 

__________________________________________________

Luke was sniffling. "Are you crying?" Julie questioned. 

"Maybe," his voice cracked.

On screen, the Mandalorian and Omera were parting. The two visitors, one a bounty hunter and the other a green, small child, were to leave and continue with their journey. The character of Omera, she wanted him to stay and moved to remove his helmet. Which the bounty hunter stopped her from. He couldn't stay with her and Winta when they were still fugitives. 

"It's so tragic," Alex commented. 

All of the boys were watching the scene with watery eyes.

"Why can't they just stay together and be in love?" Reggie wailed.

__________________________________________________

"Heyy!! He took off his helmet," Reggie pointed at the screen excitedly, almost jumping out of the couch.

"He's kinda cute," Alex blushed and scratched the back of his neck.

They all stared at the now unmasked, mysterious bounty hunter whose face had been revealed.

__________________________________________________

After the first season had concluded, they decided to take a small break before resuming. As they had started at around 10 am, the clock was now around 5:30pm.

"You guys ready?" Julie wiggled her eyebrows.

All of the boys nodded. Suddenly the front door opened and Julie jumped in her seat on the couch and looked over her shoulder.

"Hi Mija," Ray said as he carried the grocery bags into the kitchen area with a tired Carlos strolling behind. 

"Hi, Julie," Carlos said as he trailed their father like a tiny duckling, he was eyeing the box of chocolate ice cream that Ray was currently putting into the freezer. "Hi, Carlos," she smiled.

Carlos paused in his steps and looked suspiciously at the television and then at Julie. "You're watching the Mandalorian, _again?_ " He teased.

"It's great," she protested.

"I know, it's like my favorite show, can I watch with-" Carlos stopped himself halfway when he came to the realization.  
"Ohhhhh", he wore a very smug expression. "I see," he stroked his nonexistent beard that wouldn't appear for several years until puberty kicked in.

Carlos giggled and said in a lower, quieter voice. "I hope your ghost friends like it." 

Julie's eyes widened in alarm. Carlos knew? 

"He knows?" Luke asked.

Julie looked over at Luke, "Apparently," she whispered back.

"My little brother knows I exist?" Reggie wiped away a tear. "This is the best day of my life."

Julie rolled her eyes. "Yes, Reggie, he knows," she confirmed. 

"How does he know?" Alex asked.

"I don't know how he knows!" Julie hushed.

"It wasn't _that_ hard to figure out," said Carlos.

"Everything ok over there?" Ray looked over at them.

"Yes!" Carlos and Julie yelled in unison.

Ray just shrugged and continued his task of storing away the food items.

"Don't tell dad, not yet. Ok?" Julie told Carlos. He nodded.

"Well, nice to meet you guys," Carlos smiled.

"Nice to meet you too," all of the guys said. "They say the same," Julie smiled.

Carlos turned around. Her little brother, well, now she supposed it was their disappeared up to his room like ghosts were a normal daily life occurrence.

Ray was putting food items into the fridge and cupboards, oblivious as ever. He whistled a melody that sounded similar to Edge of Great.

"Uh, dad? Is it ok if I have the living room to myself for the rest of the night?" Julie asked with a hopeful glint in her eye. She really didn't want her dad to think that she was out of her mind when she heard her mutter a comment or two to one of the boys. Considering how concerned he already was, making him worry even more was out of the question.

Ray nodded, "Sure, Mija. I was thinking of doing some much-needed work on my website. It's real tough marketing a self-run photography business," Julie's dad smiled. And she smiled back at him. "Just make sure you don't stay up too long, sleep is important." Julie rolled her eyes. _"I knooow,"_ she dragged the word out for as long as possible. "I promise to go to bed at a reasonable time."

"Good," Ray nodded and grabbed one of the red apples he'd bought at the store and descended up the staircase steps, crunching loudly on it. 

"I love your dad," Reggie awed at the empty staircase. "My dad was a real jerk." The rest of the boys and Julie looked with pity and compassion at the bassist.

"Well, I hereby officially have him adopt you without his knowledge or consent. But if I ever tell him about you three, maybe I'll ask him. Ok? You guys are a part of the Molina household now, whether you like it or not," there was no arguing this so the boys kept silent.

All until Reggie at last said, "Thanks, Julie," with a sweet smile.

Next up was season two, and Reggie was beyond thrilled. Considering his obsession with Star Wars, what he had already seen had blown his mind to bits and pieces. Season two just had to be as good. But what he hadn't expected was for it to be even better.

__________________________________________________

Season 2

"Who's that chick?" Luke asked as she fought with her two white lightsabers.

Julie looked appalled. "Oh wait," and it dawned on her. "Right, you guys died like more than a decade before Clone Wars. Hmphh. That's Ahsoka Tano created by the genius Dave Filoni. She's Togruta, a former Jedi, Darth Vader's old padawan and one of the best written characters in existence and my favorite Star Wars character of all time."

"Darth Vader had a padawan?" Alex's face became a question mark.

"She seems cool," Luke smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, a badass," Alex nodded.

 _"I love her,"_ Reggie watched in fascination, amazed at how well she fought against the enemies.

__________________________________________________

"I would actually die for Grogu. Wait, I'd die again for Grogu," Alex said and corrected himself. 

"I think we'd all die again for Grogu," Luke agreed.

"Grogu is the best," Reggie was sobbing.

Julie just smiled.

__________________________________________________

"Boba Fett is alive? Called it!" Luke said.

Alex rolled his eyes

"You owe me ten bucks! How 'bout that?" said Luke and celebrated his sweet, sweet victory.

"Julie, can I borrow ten bucks?" Alex asked.

"Sure." Julie said.

"Hey, that's unfair," Luke protested bitterly.

Alex shrugged and smiled.

“Nooo!” Reggie exclaimed. There were tears streaming down each of the boys’ cheeks. Clutching Alex’s arm, his wet tears soaked the drummer’s pink hoodie. “Not Grogu," he sniffed. “Why did they have to take him?” “There, there.” Alex patted Reggie’s shoulder in comfort. “He’s gonna be ok, right, Julie?” 

“Mmmghh spoilers, but yes, Reggie, to ease your pain. Grogu will be ok, the writers would never hurt Grogu," she looked at him with a pained expression. Then she paused and mouthed - I hope - without Reggie seeing and then continued “Fans love him too much," Julie said and wiped away Regige’s tears. “That helps a little," Reggie sniffled.

On the screen, sounds of explosions. “Uhhh, guys," Luke whispered. They all looked at the screen, gasping - except for Julie, she’d already seen this part. “Not the ship too!” Reggie inhaled. Luke looked saddened. 

__________________________________________________

"What…" said Luke

"the…" said Alex.

"HOLY SHIT!" yelled Reggie.

"LUKE SKYWALKER," they were all losing their minds. Julie was convinced she was going to somehow end up with tinnitus.

"How in the world did they make him look so _young?_ They didn't go back in time and kidnap a young Mark Hamil, did they? Is time travel possible nowadays?" Alex watched with his jaw dropped.

"The magic of CGI, or whatever they use. I actually have no idea what's it's called, which is a little concerning," Julie furrowed her brows. "And unfortunately, time travel is yet not possible in 2021. I wish though," she said.

Everyone was crying, including Julie, when Din and Grogu stared at each other. Din had taken off his helmet and Grogu gooed, looking at his adoptive dad before being put down. Grogu stumbled over to Luke and Artoo.

Artoo beeped. Reggie chuckled, "Artoo was always my favorite."

Din Djarin was left without his child and with the darksaber by his side. Where would the third season take the bounty hunter? For now it was unknown. For now, all the four teenagers could do was wait. 

The end credits now rolled and came on screen. 

No one said a thing. They were too amazed. Too taken by the brilliance. 

"Damn, Jules." Luke said breathlessly. He looked over at her with two large puppy eyes. "You were right. That was _incredible."_

Beyond incredible.


	3. The boys discover Youtube

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys deep dive into the insanity that so happens to be Youtube, how will it go?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so I actually managed to finish this before Monday tomorrow, huh? Weird. And this chapter is a lot more than the previous ones and at first I wasn't really satisfied with it, but then I came up with a really good idea and it just made me giggle :') Hope u enjoy, take care and stay safe! This takes place in 2021, late-spring where covid is nonexistent

Reggie groaned in pain. 

Five hours had gone by in a flash. Five hours since Julie had given him her laptop to use “responsibly” (whatever that happened to mean). He was a responsible person. Right? Obviously the most responsible out of the guys. 

Back in the day, twenty five years ago (yet not too long ago technically), he’d been the one to make sure they all ate and stuff like that during band practice. Bobby, Alex and Luke had been too prone to neglect self-care just to get whatever song they were practising right, even if that meant practising without a break. 

In conclusion: Reggie had been shaped up to be independent. Which happened when you grew up with two neglectful parents too busy fighting to realize that: Hey! You have a ten year old kid who hasn’t had anything to eat for dinner. 

Julie had been hesitant to hand her laptop over. Reggie’s pleading puppy eyes (a trick he’d stolen from Luke) convinced her in the end. The hesitation derived from emotional attachment or something like that. Or the fact that she may never get it back because Reggie would somehow end up addicted to it. And that so happened to be the case.

Youtube was a cursed rabbit hole. He just went further and further down the black abyss. No coming back. Never. It had started out in a very innocent way. First with funny clips, then it deepend to slime videos? And then to soap-cutting videos (oh, boy did he love those videos, they were so mesmerizing.)

Then he’d ended up with weird ASMR videos. Like, real weird ones. Kind of kinky ones? He didn’t want to think back to them. Erase them from his mind if that was possible, which it wasn’t. 

Now he was back on track. Back to the less weird side of Youtube with compilations of cute cats doing silly things. Reggie rolled onto his stomach on Julie’s bed. She didn’t mind him occupying her room for the time being as she was hanging out with Flynn, apparently doing some “arts and crafts”, as she had mentioned before leaving around noon.

Eventually, the time mark had hit two hours of youtube-watching. Both Luke and Alex joined in on the shenanigans. Quite uneventful shenanigans considering what they were happening to be just watching content for hours on end. With Reggie’s amazing luck, right at the moment that the two other guys joined in, he’d found himself back on the weird side of youtube. Minutes ticked on. The boys nestled on the bed side by side, on their stomachs with the laptop inches from their faces.

Julie entered with her backpack slung over her shoulder. She was wearing black overalls over a shirt with a yellow sunflower on it and her curly hair was collected in the back in a tight ponytail. Two butterflies had been embroidered onto the overall’s pant sleeves, seemingly a new addition. 

The backpack landed on the floor with a soft thud and the boys started. Luke thought she looked beautiful. On her wrist was some sort of friendship bracelet. Black, grey, white and purple in color and woven in a zigzag pattern.

“Uh, how long have you guys been watching that?” Julie eyed them cautiously. 

Each of the boys’ eyes were red and fixated on the screen, watching the hypnosis clock swing back and forth in a continuous motion with no indication of stopping. Distinct sounds of a cat meowing were coming from the screen.

They were laying next to each other in a cramped space, Luke in the middle with Reggie to the left and Alex to the right. If either of the latter mentioned boys moved an inch they'd fall onto Julie’s carpet. 

“Four hours,” a tired looking Alex croaked. 

Reggie raised his hand, “Six hours.”

Luke rubbed his eyes. “This thing,” he pointed at the modern device, “is dangerous.”

“Help,” Reggie rolled over towards Luke’s direction in the narrow space that he had access for the hundredth. Then the other way, and this time he ended up on the floor. A soft “ouch” was heard. Reggie scrambled off the floor, rubbing his sore side and arm that had taken most of the damage from the fall.

Julie sighed like a disappointed mother. “I’m sorry, but I’m taking away your laptop privileges.”

“Nooo!” They all protested together. Reggie grabbed the laptop and held it close to his chest in a hug. “This thing is _amazing_ ”,” he whispered.

Julie was nowhere near convinced but gave up.

“Fine.”

If the boys wanted to do nothing but stare at a screen (fair thing, she did the same most days too), then that was their choice. “But since you guys have been on that thing for so long, found any new music to share with the rest of the class? And by rest of the class I mean myself.” 

Their faces were blank. Like a white canvas board that an artist had yet to touch. Was Julie then the painter, splashing acrylics onto the surface. Because it sure seemed like it. The boys’ faces were growing each second with intensifying emotion. 

“There’s music on this thing?” Luke asked in a barely audible whisper. His eyes passed back and forth between Julie’s eyes and the laptop held tightly to Reggie’s chest.

“Uhm, yes? Like an endless free amount.” Julie confirmed. 

How on earth hadn’t they discovered that Youtube was a place that wasn’t just full of cat videos, weird content and memes?

"Wait… endless free amount of music?" Luke didn’t know what to believe. 

"There is."

"Wow,” he took in a sharp breath and then said: "Damn."

“Well, what do I type? Like, how do I find music? Wait, should I just type like Nirvana and it’ll like pop up songs?” Luke continued even more eagerly, stealing the device from Reggie’s grasp and flipping it open.

Julie nodded, “Yes, that’s pretty much how it works. But beware: there are a lot, and I’m not exaggerating, a lot of songs to choose from.”

“Endless amount of music…” Reggie’s face couldn’t get past that fact. He looked as if he had ascended to heaven, which as a ghost stuck on earth without a clear sense of what his unfinished business was, that was the goal. Nonetheless, his ghost body was still visible and he hadn’t passed over.

“Can we listen to Whitney Houston first?” Alex asked.

“ _Nooo_ ”, Social Distortion first,” Reggie pleaded.

"Reggie, I will never for the rest of my afterlife understand cowpunk," Luke countered.

"They're not just cowpunk and they're really good, I swear! Cowpunk is great."

“Queen?” Julie looked hopeful.

They all looked at each other before nodding. “Queen it is,” Luke agreed.

During the next hour, all they did was listen to Queen songs. After a while, they'd sat in the same comfortable position that Julie's leg had become numb. She was leaning against Luke's chest with the computer on her lap. 

"Man, Freddie was an icon." Luke said and each of them nodded in agreement.

Julie clicked on the Youtube homepage after the music video for Bohemian Rhapsody had concluded. Suddenly her eyes lit up. "Oh my God! I totally remembered."

The boys looked with suspicion at her. Alex narrowed his eyes. "Yes?"

With a quick press of a keyboard button, Julie typed with ease to get to the thing she was after. And that thing, well, it was Julie and the Phantom's official Youtube channel. 

A profile picture of each of them grabbed their attention.The banner had the words "Julie and the Phantoms" on it. Whoever had done the graphic design work had done a phenomenal work. 

Julie had to remember to thank whichever graphic designer Flynn had hired to create it.

"Wow, you got us a, uh..?" Alex glanced at the screen. What the hell was that? Alex had literally no clue. He felt like a clueless toddler. All this new technology was terrifying. 

Somehow he was expected to just adjust to it well. He'd never been good at adjusting to anything. Even getting a hold of being dead was the biggest learning curve ever. He still didn't know if he'd even understood what it meant that some sort of afterlife existed. 

Geez, life was confusing.

"A Youtube channel! Flynn made it like yesterday. She posted all of our videos and stuff. I've been thinking about maybe vlogging."

"What is vlogging?" Reggie questioned. 

"Video blog, like a documentation or a journal entry of some sort. There are a bunch of vloggers on Youtube. Some good, some, well… Yeah there are a lot." Julie answered, nodding.

"Can we vlog?" Reggie sounded eager.

Julie furrowed her brows. "Not sure yet… I mean, you guys can barely hold objects. To be determined?"

"Sounds good to me," Luke shrugged.

How many people had watched their recorded live performances had come as a genuine shock. And the fact that they'd blown up and even opened at the freaking Orpheum and opened for Panic! At The Disco, as well as meeting Brendon freaking Urie hadn't settled yet.

Julie felt grateful for it all, really. Like how often did these things happen? And the fact that the boys had got a second chance at success was a miracle. Aside from their continued existence being a literal miracle.

 _Ghosts exist._ Julie thought and a feeling of surreality hit. And while it felt scary sometimes, she was so happy that they'd turned out real. Because if not, she wouldn't have three dumb boys in her life filling it with happiness and reigniting her love for music.

Julie clicked on their live performance for Edge of Great. Reminiscent music filled the room from not so long ago.

"Uhm, Julie..?" 

It was Alex. He looked at her wrist. "What's that?" And he pointed at the friendship bracelet she'd made at Flynn's place. Flynn's four year old little sister had been adamant about "fwiendship bwacets!"

"Oh, my friendship bracelet?"

Music continued to play in the background.

Alex nodded. "Do the colors mean anything or do you just like those colors? I know you like purple."

"Well, yes, to both. The colors stand for the asexual flag. Black, grey, white and purple." 

"What's asexual?" Reggie asked.

"Well, it's a lack of sexual attraction to other people. I still like to fall in love," her eyes mer Luke's, "and experience romantic attraction. Just not sexually. It's a part of the LGBTQ+ community."

"Oh, cool!" said Reggie.

"Thanks for telling us," Luke smiled.

After a while, Reggie took charge of the laptop and decided to decide what he wanted to watch. Julie rolled her eyes. By accident, he clicked on a recommended video on the home page. "Huh, what's this?"

It was a clip of a mom offering free hugs to people at a Pride Parade whose parents weren't as accepting. 

Alex looked absolutely taken by the thirty seconds clip. Luke paused the video, there were five seconds left but his concern from the drummer overshadowed his love for the emotional tidbit of a Pride parade

"You okay, dude?" Luke sounded worried.

Alex quickly wiped away a tear. "Yeah, I'm fine." His voice sounded wobbly.

"You don't sound fine," Luke's voice was firm but caring.

"I wish I could get a hug from that mom. You guys know that, but I guess not you, Julie. My parents weren't so accepting," Alex explaIned to Julie.

Julie frowned sadly. "Oh, Alex." She pulled her friend into a hug.

"Well, there's the Los Angeles Pride parade in two months. How about we go to it? All four of us?" Julie said.

Alex brightened visibly. "Can I invite Willie?"

"Of course! I was thinking of going with Carrie and Flynn as well. We always go together," Julie put a comforting hand on Alex's shoulder.

"Pride parade!" Reggie threw a fist in the air. "I've never been to one," his gaze looked distant.

"Me neither, are they fun?" asked Luke.

"They're super-fun! A little overwhelming at first, but I've always felt at home at them," Julie fiddled with the homemade bracelet. She was big into arts and crafts recently, even having made a few earrings on her own. Maybe she’d make a pair with the ace flag on it? That was an idea for later. 

Julie looked with a grin at the boys, “So, _all_ of you?”

“Yep, even Bobby,” Luke answered. “And with Pride parades, I mean, we’d planned to go after we played the Orpheum for the first time. But yeah, you know how that turned out.”

“Well, I’m glad I get to be with you guys for your first time there.”

"I'm going to go ask Willie if he wants to come!" And like that, Alex shot up from the bed and poofed out of Julie's room into the nothingness. Probably to wherever Willie tended to hang out, skating around somewhere.

"Well, I'm going to sing a country song in celebration of this. Maybe even write another country song? Farewell," Reggie bowed like a gentleman and poofed away.

"I swear, Reggie, if you write it in my journal I will haunt you for the rest of eternity" Luke stood up and shouted. Unfortunately, Reggie had already disappeared so he couldn't hear Luke's non-threatening threat. 

"What do you have against country music?" Julie teased and closed the laptop, putting it away.

"It's _bad_ ”," Luke said and sat next to Julie on the bed. Their hands were entangled. Julie's nails had remnants of a purple nail polish. 

"Well, that is subjective, good sir," Julie said in a matter-of-fact voice.

Luke pouted, "But he keeps putting it in my journal! It's annoying."

"Just ask him to stop if you let him play one song."

" _Jules,_ " Luke whined. "Ugh, fine. I'll let him play 'Home is where my horse is'. That one is the only one I can stomach.”

Julie giggled. "Home is where my horse is? Now that sounds interesting."

"Oh, boy. You just wait…"

_A week later_

Reggie sat on the couch in front of a camera in the living room. The house was currently vacant. Ray at work, Carlos and Julie at school, Luke being bored and joining Julie at school and a definitely love-struck Alex hanging out with Willie as always. 

Actually strike that, both Luke and Alex were for sure love-struck with their respective crushes. They just couldn’t see it yet. Unlike the love guru that was Reggie Peters, whose love life was dim for the time being.

Oh boy! It was incredible that Luke had agreed to practice a song by him! How in the world had that happened? 

Julie probably had something to do with it. She was one smart cookie. After practice, he'd been very excited about making some sort of video, vlog? or whatever it was called, recording a performance of him singing the song he'd written. He hoped everyone watching would like it.

Something interesting that the boys had found out (but rarely used), was that with enough willpower they could make themselves visible to lifers without having to play music with Julie. 

But it required a ton of effort. He had wanted to try it on Ray, but Julie said that it was a bad idea because Ray was yet not aware of them being ghosts. She wanted to explain it to him first.

However, they were going to try it on Carlos soon. Exciting business indeed. 

That ability he’d been refining with random strangers when he was out and about. And after enough practice, he could finally record himself and make himself visible to the internet.

Reggie was spilling over with restlessness. His motivation was just running high and It felt almost impossible to contain his joy.

Now the camera was rolling. And he had one of Julie's acoustic guitars.

"This song goes out to all of you beautiful bucks, all you pretty ponies, all you sexy stallions," Reggie tried to act as charming as possible for the viewers.

"It’s a Reggie original," he added and cleared his throat.

_"Home, what is it really?  
Sometimes it’s a someone and not a place,  
It’s that feeling of being safe,  
It’s about who you’re with at the end of the day...(and for me)" He began, singing the lyrics and hitting the notes perfectly._

Reggie continued strumming the chords, some of which Luke had helped to come up with despite how much he’d initially refused.

_"Home is where my horse is!  
Riding through trees by the river  
Feel the summer breeze smile gettin’ bigger  
Home is where my horse is  
Don’t need a house or a roof  
I just put on the saddle, lace up my boots  
Cuz home is where my horse is"_

The words hit close to his heart. Country songs always had that effect on him. Man, home is really where his horse is. Heart-wrenching lyrics by the one and only Reggie Peters.

_"I don’t need the streets  
Don’t need the city lights  
I don’t need a fancy car  
I just hop on my horse and ride"_

The song was coming to its end, a decent conclusion. Hopefully everyone watching would like it. Unlike Luke, unlike how much he disliked it. Perhaps it would evoke emotion in someone.

_"Home is where my horse is!  
Riding through trees by the river  
Feel the summer breeze smile gettin’ bigger  
Home is where my horse is  
I see the beautiful beast running up to me  
And I know  
I’m home"_

The song finished. Reggie smiled one final time and that was the end of the video.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song isn't written by me but by the brilliant Jeremy Shada who plays Reggie! Please go check out the song on his youtube channel. Please check it out! link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVNZ-qpDa9U
> 
> He's so freaking talented
> 
> Also cowpunk is apparently a thing? (basically country punk I guess) skdjfks and Social Distortion is actually pretty good. Thanks to a post on reddit with a list of what the guys would like music-wise, one of which were Social Distortion for Reggie. Almost too fitting, honestly
> 
> hope you're doing ok, take care and love yourself !!!


	4. How things have changed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group explores a local music store and realizes how much things have changed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy :) Have a good day

Three quarters of Julie and the Phantoms were strolling down the street. High above the sun was shining, giving the group a dose of vitamin D. 

Flocks of pigeons were pecking away at breadcrumbs from a baguette peeking out of a plastic bag someone had decided to abandon. 

Not to mention the old McDonalds bag that looked less than appealing near the half-eaten baguette. The pigeons were having a feast, it seemed. Not a feast you'd want to join in on.

The sound of skateboard wheels passed by the trio. But when Julie looked to check, it wasn't Willie, only a complete stranger with somewhat sunburnt skin and a buzzcut, not wearing a helmet.

They continued onwards exploring. As it was a Sunday, Julie had all the time in the world to listen to the banter or silly questions that the boys had to offer. 

Alex however was missing from the picture, Luke had noticed. He was off hanging out with Willie. Doing whatever they usually did.

Maybe this time talking about the upcoming Pride parade and their excitement regarding the subject. The topic kept popping up in their conversations. 

At first the drummer had seemed hesitant to reconnect with the fellow ghost, in case Caleb caught wind of the band's survival and that they had in fact not passed over.  
Somehow the two guys managed to keep it under the radar. 

Caleb hadn't heard a thing, thank God. If he had then things wouldn't have gone down well. They'd be stuck working for Caleb for the rest of eternity, Luke thought. 

He hated Caleb with a burning passion. While you couldn't deny the man's musical talent, calling him pleasant was impossible. 

Luke shuddered at the thought of Caleb Covington. No one like that should ever be in a position of power. It was beyond wrong.

Julie felt excited about the upcoming Pride. Her dad would be joining them as well during it. And ready to snap a photo of the group or the parade with his camera.

In a few days Julie was planning on telling him about guys. And hoped with all of her heart that it wouldn't be that difficult of a pill to swallow. Would it be?

Usually he would take beautiful photos of people and the general parade. Anything that would catch his eye. And the photos always looked so professional. Which made sense, considering her dad was a very talented professional.

Plus the profits he'd make from them he would donate to an LGBTQ+ charity like the Trevor Project. She really had the most amazing dad.

Julie left the local thrift store with a paper bag of some vintage clothing she'd discovered. Two floral blouses. The boys had tried to give her some pointers of what they thought looked good. 

A lot of the items they had picked out were way too 90's for Julie's tastes. Not that their fashion senses were bad per say, she just preferred something a bit more modern. Something a bit more _her._ A butterfly-pattern if it was possible to find. 

Discovering the area had become a big thing and a common occurrence. A weekly thing to be exact. Whether it was finding new stores or having the boys delve back into their childhoods by visiting places that meant a lot to them. It felt touching.

Sadly for Reggie, his house was no longer there. But Luke often visited his parents. And well, Alex enjoyed going to the music store where his parents had bought his drums for his thirteenth birthday. And not to forget going to visit Willie.

Julie pulled out her phone to check the time, only to realize that she had five missed calls from Flynn as the sound and vibration had both been turned off. She preferred it that way. Fewer distractions. A message popped up. 

_call me!! SUPER important news -from Flynn._

Immediately she hit the call button and waited while the tone rang. 

Luke and Reggie had stopped right next to her, admiring a beautiful (and very expensive) white bass displayed in the music store's front window. 

The music store called "Turned Up" was currently empty except for one person. Only the cashier was visible inside, leaning lazily at the register. 

Julie remembered that this was where Alex sometimes came. And the same place he’d got his old drums from. He'd gone on about how nice the owner - an old man in his 60s - had been, letting a thirteen year old Alex test out a drum kit. And introducing him to some great rock bands when he'd mostly been listening to quite a lot of pop.

Luke and Reggie stood gawking at the instrument. And after a long while of intense staring, Reggie put his hand against the surface of the glass. He wanted it. So bad.

“Dude, we can’t ask Julie to buy that. It’s freaking expensive. Look at the price!” Luke half-yelled.

Julie sushed them. At last they quietened down. And finally Flynn picked up. 

A tired manager appeared on the other line, yawning. Maybe she'd taken a nap, judging by the sound of her voice. 

“Julie! You’re not going to believe this. I have amazing news! Like amazing amazing.” 

“What is it?” she asked, interest piqued.

Behind her Luke and Reggie were in some sort of quiet discussion, it looked as if they had started bickering about something irrelevant. 

_Boys._ Julie rolled her eyes.

“I booked you and the guys a gig! At a music concert at the Pride parade!”

“Flynn!”

“ _Julie._ ”

“I can’t believe this, you’re incredible! Thank you. I love you so, so much, you’re the literal best person in the whole entire world.”

“You know it. Love you too.”

“I’m so telling the guys, they’re going to freak out.”

She shifted her phone a tad and looked at Luke and Reggie. “Guess what?”

They both turned around and said, “What?”

“We’ve booked a gig! At pride!”

“Awesome!” Luke and Reggie high-fived each other. And simultaneously gave a high-five each with respective left and right hand to Julie.

“Well, talk to you later, Flynn.”

“See ya,” Flynn said and ended the call.

Julie returned her phone to her pocket.

The street was deserted aside from the three of them. Reggie and Luke wanted to check out what more the music store had to offer. 

Julie didn’t protest. And didn’t need any persuasion. Even though going to the vinyl store to check out old records (and getting something for her dad who was a big appreciation of vinyls) had been a bit more intriguing, the music store would have to do for today. 

They went in and headed to browse through what there was to offer. 

Her ears picked up something. Something familiar. Higher up on the walls there were speakers. And they were playing a song. One of their songs. Edge of Great. Probably the video her dad had filmed. Considering a Julie and The Phantoms album was at the moment nonexistent.

Julie blushed but pretended not to notice and trailed after the guys (who had not noticed the music playing in the background).

The cashier had decided to hum along to the song.

Reggie went for an acoustic guitar, similar to the one Julie owned. After a while he managed to pick it up with those impressive ghost-powers of his. 

“Hey, guys, look!” Reggie pointed and started playing. 

A soft melody, one that Julie couldn't quite place. Maybe a new song he'd written or an old one she had never heard before. 

Momentarily she was too caught up to notice, well, they weren't the only people in the room. _The cashier._

Julie glanced at Reggie adamantly. He continued strumming, a tad oblivious to the fact that: Hey, there's a levitating guitar playing music.

The cashier behind the register stopped humming and turned pale with widened eyes.

“Reggie,” Julie hissed, “put it down.” 

Her eyes flickered to the terrified woman with both arms covered in tattoos and raggedy-cut pink hair. 

“Did you see that?” The woman asked.

“Uhm, no?” Julie tried to sound convincing.

“Ugh.. I must really be getting too little sleep. Do you need help finding anything?”

Julie looked around and grabbed a random purple tambourine. “No, just thought I’d get a new tambourine.” 

Julie paid for the tambourine and let out a sigh of relief that the woman had just thought she’d been sleep deprived. 

Otherwise that would have been a very awkward conversation. Especially if she’d have to explain the existence of ghosts without sounding like a complete lunatic.

“Aren’t you Julie from Julie and the Phantoms?” 

The way the question was asked sounded sort of shy, as if the woman felt a little embarrassed bringing it up, but still sort of star-struck.

Did I just get recognised? Julie thought. 

Luke and Reggie just looked at each other. 

“Yep! That’s me,” she laughed, voice sounding stale.

However, she still felt flattered. It felt so surreal. How in the world was someone star-struck meeting her? Julie Molina? Ray and Rose Molina’s daughter, who wasn’t all that impressive? She wasn't Beyonce. 

“Wow, you're a talented musician. And so is your band. They’re holograms, right? Crazy impressive stuff,” the woman said in awe. 

Her eyes were two different colors, Julie noticed. One green and one blue.

“And yeah, they’re holograms. Technology these days,” Julie chuckled, still uncomfortable.

“The drummer kinda reminds me of someone I used to know. He… passed away.” She said solemnly.

“Oh, I’m sorry.. My mom passed away recently. I know how it feels,” Julie said, trying to comfort the woman.

“It's ok. It was a long time ago. And sorry for your loss.”

“Likewise.”

“On a happier note, my little sister is obsessed with you guys. I mean, me too. But Abigail would just die if she knew I’d met you. Are you ever releasing an album?”

Julie thought about it for a while. Then looked briefly at the guys (who were nodding).

“Yep! Maybe not now, but in the future. I'm currently busy with school and homework.”

The woman fully seemed to understand, “Yeah, school’s a pain in the ass.” Julie laughed at that. 

“Are you studying?” she asked.

The woman nodded, “Yeah. Music production at UCLA. Even though I'm 43."

“Wow, that’s cool. And age shouldn't matter, you can get a degree at whatever age you want. It's never too late,” she replied, smiling.

“Thanks. And yeah, you're totally right.,” the woman smiled.

“You're welcome,” Julie said.

“Well, it was lovely meeting you!” the woman said.

“You too! Wait, what’s your name, by the way?”

“Christie.”

“Nice meeting you too, Christie."

Julie left the store, a tambourine in hand and two boys following. The sky outside was shrouded with narrow, drifting, white and fluffy clouds.

A cool breeze chilled Julie's legs. Perhaps she should have gone with a pair of jeans instead of ripped denim shorts. Cold enwrapped the previously hot summer day.

"You ok, Jules?"

Julie nodded, a soft smile, "Yes, Luke."

From thin air, a certain drummer appeared, poofing into existence in front of the trio. Looking, disheveled with a.. hickey on his neck? 

Luke narrowed his eyes and grinned, "Is that a…?"

Alex blushed and covered the mark, "No."

"Whatever you say," Luke said, smirking.

Julie smiled and Reggie patted Alex's shoulder in a celebratory manner. "Way to go," he cheered.

Silence settled. Alex was staring at the music store's window. He looked like a statue. A frozen and lifeless body. There was no telling what had caused the shift. But Julie realized, as she followed Alex's line of sight, she could tell that he was staring at the pink-haired woman.

“Wait… that’s my sister," Alex’s voice cracked.

“Your sister’s Christie?”

“Well, one of my sisters. Christie and Abigail.”

"Oh.. Alex.. I'm so sorry," Julie said.

"No, it's ok." He just shrugged and looked down at his shoes.

"Well, if it helps any, she told me that Abigail was a big fan of Julie and the Phantoms," Julie decided to add.

Alex brightened, "Really?"

She nodded, "Really."

At that moment they were about to make their way downtown. Julie had a craving for an iced tea. Maybe a bagel. Her empty stomach grumbled.

And as they moved toward their next destination, they happened to be stopped short by the swarming mass of human beings. More people had begun to appear now that it was a bit later in the day. 

Newly made parents pushing strollers. An old, larger man was walking his adorable brown labrador. 

Reggie tried to pet it, but his hand just went through it. The dog seemed anxious. As if it could tell that a ghost had just tried petting it. Meanwhile the owner seemed confused as to why the labrador hastened its pace, pulling the owner forward with the leash.

A couple of metres away, a tall and lanky guy in his late 20s got out of an old Volvo from the early 2000s.

The lanky guy appeared determined in his steps. He knew where to go, that was for sure. 

Some distance in front of him was a guy with curly, auburn hair and freckles who appeared to be close to the lanky guy in age. 

Alex was looking at them, watching as they ran up to each other and hugged. It looked as if they hadn't seen one another in ages. Probably years.

Both of them had tears streaming down their faces and they hugged as they sobbed. Then came what shocked Alex the most. And the two other guys as well. Not Julie as much. The two men kissed. Really passionately. 

Julie felt emotional, feeling intrusive watching such a personal reunion.

Alex glanced around. No one in the large crowd of people cared. No one at all. To Alex, it seemed like paradise. 

"I like the 21st century," Alex smiled.

"Me too," Luke agreed.

"Me three!" Reggie raised his hand.

"People… can just be themselves nowadays?" Alex asked, sounding unsure.

"Well, yeah, for the most part. Homophobia still exists in a lot of places, even here. And in some countries it's illegal. But, it's not as bad as it was when you three were alive. We've come far, but there's still a long way to go."

Reggie pulled in all of them in a group hug. To the outside world, she probably looked peculiar. Hugging air. 

She caught some people shooting concerned or judgemental glances. But she ignored them. Julie didn't give a care in the world. All she cared about was that she was surrounded by her boys.

_How far we've come._

_And how things have changed._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess I'm semi-satisfied with this chapter
> 
> well, gonna try to finish the final chapter eventually. Probably next week or so
> 
> If I ever write anything multi-chaptered in this fandom or another I'm gonna challenge myself to write longer chapters. But I feel for these small kinda one-shots but with an overarching story, 1500-3000 words seems fitting
> 
> ily drink water pls


	5. Born This Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group attends a Pride Parade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this takes place in 2021 but covid is nonexistent! Pls stay safe and wear a mask. I couldn't attend a pride parade last year because of covid ): Hopefully all this will be over soon.
> 
> I find it difficult to juggle like several characters at once so this was difficult to write but I did my best :) I hope you enjoy it. I've never actually been to Pride so idk how it is exactly but I tried to a little research.
> 
> also Carrie uses she/they pronouns in this fanfic so I shift between the two

July arrived fast. A month anticipated and welcomed by everyone. Finally.

At noon Julie and the Phantoms gathered at Los Angeles Pride.

Each of them were dressed up in Pride-themed outfits, excluding Luke.

Julie wore a purple floral top, black homemade earrings, gray and faded denim shorts, a quilted, black cardigan and white socks as well as a white thrifted bracelet with a blue butterfly on it.

Reggie wore a pink tie-dye t-shirt, a purple flannel shirt, and dark blue, cuffed jeans. 

Meanwhile Alex had really gone for it. One hundred percent. Everything he wore happened to be rainbow-colored. Even his shoulder fanny pack. Somehow he pulled it off and totally rocked it. 

Throughout the entire summer season, the weather had been perfect. Not too warm, not too hot. Just right. Lukewarm. 

Julie grinned and looked at Luke. God, was she turning into her dad with all the puns?

Whether or not the perfect weather was a statement of fact or not was up to debate. That was for sure. Considering that the pleasant LA weather was for some was way too hot or way too cold. 

Julie had now accepted the fact that for her, it was perfect. Nothing could make the day any more special. 

Well, she could think of one thing. She looked over at Luke and slipped her hand into his. Then she gave him a smile that he returned with no questions asked.

Luke had decided to go with his sleeveless tank top and orange beanie. He had discovered a fitting label "Pansexual", begged Julie to make a pin of it and voilá, now he had a Pansexual flag pinned to his shirt that he wore with pride. 

The parade had already garnered up much attention. People, drag queens and exquisite floats were moving onward. Music boomed from stereos, like an orchestra accompanying an emotional yet feel good movie. Like a story full of hardships but with a happier ending.

Carrie and Flynn were walking side by side down the wide pavement towards the remaining percentage of their small found family, including the actual family who were there to support as allies. These members included Tia, Dad and Carlos. 

The latter was jumping up and down with excitement that managed to parallel the energy that Reggie possesed. 

Judging by the sheer amount of people, there had to be at least 200 000 people in attendance. Pride was really a massive event.

Willie, who had appeared, wearing a Trans flag tied around himself like a cape, kissed Alex hello. In addition to the cape, he also wore a t-shirt with a pride flag on it.

Willie looked uncomfortable by how many people there were, but took solace in holding Alex's hand and squeezing it. 

The existence of ghosts was now known to Ray. And that her so-called "hologram bandmates" were in fact not alive. These claims had been initially met with a huge amount of skepticism. It had turned out to be a hard pill to swallow.

The skepticism died down when he saw how insistent Julie was about it. Ray knew his daughter would never lie about stuff like that. Not in a million years.

Maybe Rose is still out there? On the other side? The thought was comforting. That his wife was watching over him and their kids.

Victoria looked puzzled when Ray began to talk to no one in particular (he was talking to Reggie about his photography business as he was taking shots of the parade. Reggie couldn't exactly respond. Julie acted like the messenger between the two.)

"Carlos, mijo, I think your father has gone _loco,_ " Victoria said in a hushed and strained voice.

Carlos giggled manically. "Or maybe he's talking to ghosts," he replied spookily.

Tia turned white and said no more. Remembering a certain… ghost incident. Something she'd rather not think back to.

"Ray, you ok?" Victoria asked.

Ray paused his question he'd given Reggie (technically Julie who passed it onto Reggie.) 

"Oh, yes. I'm ok," he nodded absentmindedly. 

Tia narrowed her eyes, dissatisfied. She was finding out what was going out, regardless of how long it would take. Something was amiss. Very. Her poor sobrinos should not have to suffer at the hands of these cruel ghosts. Not if she had anything to say about it!

Luke, Alex and Willie were talking and watching everything in the parade.

Reggie's attention was constantly shifting. From one thing to another. Listening to Ray simultaneously was a difficult task as he trekked through the crowd, occasionally phasing through a Lifer.

Julie left the two and approached Flynn who was wearing an outfit with the Lesbian pride colors. Carrie however was wearing Nonbinary colors and had her hair done in an intricent braid, with a woven flower crown. Made presumably by Flynn. Who Julie had tried to persuade to start an Arts and Crafts business. Which earned a "Are you trying to find a new Manager, is that what you're saying?"

Later that day there would be several music performances. Something they would be performing at. Thanks to Flynn's booking charms and utter brilliance. Some of the fellow headliners were Demi Lovato, Tove Lo and Kehlani. Crazy.

And Dirty Candy as well. Her father, _Trevor,_ had managed to book it due to his long list of contacts from being in the business for years. 

That list of performers were just amongst others. Some of which she'd never heard before. Julie hoped she and the boys wouldn't disappoint.

"Are you two nervous about performing?" Flynn asked. 

Carrie shifted her gaze and leaned in as they were walking. "A bit," she shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh for sure," Julie nodded.

The conversation died down after a while and they strolled in comfortable silence.

People everywhere celebrated with joy. Many waved pride flags up in the air. Others waved more specific flags, personal to them. Whether it was a Genderfluid flag, Trans flag, Aromantic flag or some other flag. Everyone looked proud.

After a while, the music and sound increased in volume. Getting louder and louder. Each of the group members had to raise their voices in order to catch what someone else said. 

Carlos, Tia, Ray and Reggie walked together. While Julie, Luke, Flynn and Carrie walked side by side. Alex and Willie were at the back, passing flirtatious comments. 

Once in a while the group would switch up its placements, making sure everyone felt included. Julie acted as a conductor for the ghosts (minus Willie considering Julie couldn't see him) and the Lifers (minus Tia, she didn't need to know that her suspicions were correct.)

Once it struck two o'clock, everyone felt tired. So they sought out a spot further away from the parade on a green piece of land near a park and an occupied bench, but still close enough to the main street to watch the parade.

Drag queens and dancers were having the time of their lives. Alex gazed in amazement at the unashamed grace that the drag queens exuded. 

"Have you ever been to a drag show?" Willie asked.

"Uh, no. What's that?"

Willie smiled, "I'll bring you to one someday. They're really fun."

Alex nodded and fell backward against the grass. He stared up at the blue sky. Thereafter Willie leaned on Alex's chest and closed his eyes, savoring the sunlight.

Carlos had stolen Carrie's flower crown and ran around, avoiding being caught by two desperate hands wishing to get it back. "Carlos! Julie, your devil of a brother stole my crown," they huffed. 

Julie giggled from her place on the grass where Tia sat braiding her hair. 

All meanwhile Reggie made an attempt to reach out and braid Tia's hair. It didn't work. And if it had, well, the woman would have gone into catatonic shock. An unfortunate possibility for such a happy day. To everyone's relief, that did not happen.

Two children in the distant freaked out as a few small, gray stones were lifted up into the air by Luke. Floating and floating higher and higher. Both children shrieked and ran away to their parents.

Ray was off back in the parade, photographing for his portfolio and for future sales, all profits donated to charities Julie had recommended. At least a dozen photos had been taken already. Not all of them are great, but some of them decent enough.

Now everyone was gathered and were sitting in a circle. Flynn was chewing on an energy bar while being glued to her phone. 

A voice spoke, "Ray?"

Ray looked over. There stood Trevor Wilson in the far distance.

"Dad!" Carrie said.

"Hi, Carrie," he said. 

The anger boiling on Luke's face was intense. Almost as hot as a volcano. 

Trevor was holding a guitar case, presumably with a guitar inside. 

"I was just off to hand over an old guitar. It was a very old friend of mine's. But how is everything?" Trevor looked tired.

His eyes drifted to Julie's. So innocent looking. And terrified. "Oh, you know how it is. Busy with work," Ray chuckled and gestured at the camera.

"Yeah, I've been quite busy too." He was taciturn for a moment, then spoke once more.

"I saw you, Julie, and your… band… at the Orpheum. Amazing, really. Your mother would be proud," his words came out with an edge of shakiness that usually didn't exist. Sadness lingered in his eyes.

"Thanks, I appreciate it." Julie nodded politely.

Had Trevor recognised the boys at the performance? Was that why he was so taken with emotion? 

Julie couldn't even begin to imagine what that felt like. To have your closest friends die when you're just a teenager. Then twenty five years later see them perform with a friend of yours' daughter. Your friends the same age as they were twenty five years ago. Bizarre.

Julie doubted anyone could understand the feeling. Anyone but Trevor. Or well, as he used to be called, Bobby. 

Luke clenched his fists. His knuckles turned white. The two other boys looked as much on edge. 

"I hate him," Luke gritted his teeth.

Alex spoke, "You don't really mean that, do you? I mean, I know he stole your songs. But he's still Bobby. He's still our Bobby. Even though he's Trevor now."

Luke softened and shrugged with ebbing melancholy, "I don't know. I guess I feel betrayed."

Somewhere off in the distance, someone had put on "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga from one of the stereos that travelled down the line of marching people. 

Fitting anthem to the parade, Julie thought. And smiled as she listened to the song.

Alex seemed to really dig it and bopped his head to the drum beats. 

"See you at home," Trevor nodded to his kid.

"See ya." Carrie waved as Trevor disappeared through the growing, overwhelming mass of vivid, rainbow colors. 

It has been a pleasant day so far. The boys have experienced nothing like it before. And they looked forward to the next time Pride rolled around. According to Julie it was an annual thing.

There was an air of acceptance amongst everyone. Regardless of gender or sexuality, everyone belonged. Hate was not tolerated. You could be who you are without apologizing for feeling like you don't fit in. 

Sitting there on the grass, Julie felt unexplainable pride.

________________________________________________

Screams echoed from the crowd. Demi Lovato had just finished performing a couple of songs. 

How on Earth were they supposed to top that? It wasn't possible. Not by an ordinary living being. Perhaps maybe it was possible? Only one of them happened to be ordinary and a living being. The rest were ghosts.

Above the sky was full of pretty colors, pink and purple with a tint of blue. 

Reggie chuckled, elbowing Alex and pointing out that looked like the Bisexual flag. Alex rolled his eyes.

Julie and the Phantoms were currently backstage getting ready. Everything rolled on smoothly. They were on in five, as they had been recently informed. 

Luke sat in one of the black couches backstage trying to land M&M's in Julie's mouth. Each M&M was grabbed with relative ease. Smaller things weren't hard to lift. Like rocks or pieces of candy. 

For whatever reason Luke hoarded the green ones and chose to throw all the rest into Julie's mouth. He managed to land three M&M's. The rest littered the floor. 

Unlike a guitar, which Reggie for some reason had mastered to lift. Out of all the boys, Reggie had practised so much that he had become most skilled at this ability which each of them possessed. Excluding Willie who was superior at it, having had more time to refine it.

The skater sat on the couch armrest next to where his boyfriend was sitting, being an usual mess and hugging a turquoise pillow. 

"Anxious?" Willie asked.

"When am I not?" replied Alex.

"Good point," he squeezed Alex's shoulder. "You'll do great."

"What if they hate us? And think our music sucks?"

"No one in their right mind could hate you," Willie gave him a kiss and wished everyone about to perform good luck. Alex relaxed.

Willie, Carrie, Flynn, Victoria, Ray and Carlos headed out to watch the band's performance from one of the best spots close up to the stage that Carlos had picked out.

Taking a shaky breath, Julie turned around to the other three. "You guys ready?"

All three nodded, and so they headed out on stage. Initially everything felt shaky. Her heart was fleeting. Sweat from the slight head rolled down her forehead. 

Things had started out fearfully, eventually she felt carefree and eased into their song "Finally Free". And feeling how the melody brought a sense of serenity.

Alex had begun hitting his drums, the two other boys were playing. And Julie started to sing.

_"Hearts on fire  
We're no liars  
So we say what we wanna say  
I'm awakened  
No more faking  
So we push all our fears away"_

Luckily the song was received well by the crowd. Everyone cheered and were having a good time. From the crowd, her dad gave two thumbs up and then snapped a photo from the camera hung around his neck.

Yeah, it had been a really good day so far, Julie thought.

And it could only get better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed 💕


End file.
